"They are coming down in boats at midnight or later; and we shall join them then and wait till the ship is ready to take us on board. They will come across from Pensacola to Navy Cove, and then walk till they come to the Teaser." "All right," said the lieutenant. "I will land you at Navy Cove, and you can wait there till the rest of the crew come." "I am perfectly satisfied with that arrangement," replied Lonley. "But I am not," interposed the captain, angrily. "What can I do without any crew to help get the steamer through the sound?" "I have men enough to take care of you and the Teaser, Captain Folkner; and the men in the boat will do everything that is required to be done on board of the Teaser." "That's another thing," replied the captain, appeased by the implied promise. "I can hardly blame your men because they are not willing to go through the sound with a steamer drawing ten feet of water when there is not more than six feet of water to float her," said Christy. "Besides, if you do not get to the other end of the sound before morning, you will be seen by some of the blockaders, and they could blow this steamer to pieces, and kill half your people in a few minutes." "It may be dangerous, but so is running the blockade," added the captain. "Going out in a dark night and spending a week in sight of the blockaders are two different things. But we need not discuss the matter any more. I will put your men on the point yonder, and then I will return and help you out of your present difficulty. Am I to take off the men in the engine department?" asked Christy, as he went to the side where the boat was. "No; the engineers and firemen are all right, for they were not called upon to do any work out of the vessel." Christy and Flint stepped into the boat, and the crew followed them. There were twelve of them, and the lieutenant thought they were all good seamen. He did not like to have them reserved for use in the Confederate Navy; but he could not help himself then, and he soon landed the party on the point. The situation had been explained to the crew of the boat, and they had avoided saying anything to commit themselves. Though it involved a risk to do it, Christy had dressed in an ordinary suit of clothes for the occasion, and the party wore nothing by which they could be identified as sailors of the navy. As soon as the boat had landed its passengers, it returned to the Teaser at the best speed the crew could produce. "I had no idea that you had a plan like this in your head, Mr. Passford," said Flint, as soon as the boat was clear of Town Point. "I did not know it myself, Flint. It has all grown out of the circumstances as we found them," replied Christy. "But I did intend, if I found the Teaser without a fighting crew on board of her, to capture her if the situation warranted such a step." "But you came prepared for just this thing," suggested Flint.